Evolve Awarded Emmy For Nat Geo Work

CHICAGO — Boutique creative production company Evolve Digital Cinema | IMG (www.evolveimg.com) won a 2011 Emmy Award in the “Oustanding Promotional Announcement: Institutional” category. The company was recognized for their work with the National Geographic Channel and their campaign to create a new look to promote Nat Geo’s Explorers initiative and institution.

Winners of the 33rd Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards were announced earlier this month by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). The awards were presented at a ceremony in New York City.

“The entire team at Evolve is humbled and honored with this Emmy Award,” says Joel Edwards, co-founder and director of production for Evolve Digital Cinema|IMG. “This project with Nat Geo has personally been one of my favorite I've worked on in my entire career. It was such an intense and engaging project. We were charged to create something fresh, something that people had not seen before - and to use that as a platform to tell new stories about a new wave of world explorers. We had an amazing team and talented creative group that worked tirelessly to pull this off. Being recognized with an Emmy is the ultimate gratification! We are also so grateful to the executive and creative management team at Nat Geo for their support and faith in our abilities. It is truly an honor to work with them!”

In early 2011, the Nat Geo Channel approached Evolve Digital Cinema | IMG about creating a new campaign for the network that would give whole new look and feel to the Explorers initiative and institution. Nat Geo was looking for a fresh vision in this new campaign, visually and viscerally, through the explorers’ message and stories as they were told.

Carla Daeninckx, Nat Geo co-producer & design director adds, “Executive management challenged us to elevate the Nat Geo brand by showcasing the innovative thinkers and scientists of today who are redefining exploration by living the mission and making the world a better place. These young, smart, relatable talents are not actors, but real people who transcend all cultural boundaries to show how we can all be ‘everyday Explorers.’”

With an aggressive five-week schedule from pre-production to air, tight budgets, a race to coordinate talent, crews, and timeline, the tireless efforts have paid off with a highly successful, critically acclaimed result. “Our goal here was to visually keep the pacing of the spot up and energy high, while being light and selective on how we punctuated and identified highs and lows. The fresh approach we took on design stemmed from our core channels new on-air look, and taking it to another level. Finally, we felt it important to introduce the legacy of our Explorers and Society, creating a timeline linking our past to our future. What makes Nat Geo different from any other TV network is its connection to The National Geographic Society and its mission to explore. This was clearly the statement this brand defining campaign delivered on, and we’re so proud to have been a part of it.”